I like books too... especially if they involve Harry Potter.

I would like to consider myself a reader. Before I got into the whole cake business, I often had my nose buried in a book during my free time or while I was mindlessly working out on the elliptical at the gym. Now that I don't really have an abundance of free time I have found that I really miss reading. Like Harry Potter! I'm a HUGE Harry Potter nerd and will proudly admit it that I have read each book multiple times as if each time was the first time. I miss Harry Potter... I miss reading... oh my gosh, enough about that! 

This cake was ALL about books and I looooved it! It was for a bridal shower that had an entire literary theme, including the cute invitations that were a play off of the Penguin Publishing Group book covers. I'm so, so fortunate to share this cake with professional pictures by Amanda Krieg Photography. Amanda and I went to high school together and she conveniently is also my neighbor! We are both in the beginning stages of starting our own businesses, so we have decided to work together and help each other as much as possible. Love her, love her work, and would LOVE if you supported her as well! : ) 

On to the cake!!!!! 

I decided to stick with the whole Penguin Group theme for the books. The mother of the bride helped to pick out the titles of the books, with the top book being the bride to be's favorite. Well, her favorite book is actually, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," but the M.O.B. suggested we play around with the title and change it to, "Her Eyes Were Watching Ryan." Too cute! 

All of the little penguins, book spines, and placards were made from gumpaste. 

Each book was covered in white fondant and then I wrapped them individually in three bright colors, purple, turquoise, and orange. I then went in with a fondant cutter/Wilton tool that I don't know the name of, to make the page indents. 

I added two extra decorations to pull the whole cake together. I made a bookmark out of gumpaste that said, 

"To mark your spot,

And save the date.

June 11, 2013

She will wear white,

He won't be late."

I also made some reading glasses out of black gumpaste. They were a last minute addition... as in I made them an hour before I delivered the cake. 

I really enjoyed working with the mother of the bride to make this cake so personalized and one of a kind. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and I'm sorry I've been slacking with updating the blog. Spring is a busy season for cakes but I'll do my best! 

Thank you for your support and for reading! 

Always, 

Sarah 

Beach Bridal Shower

Yay! Spring has finally arrived... except Mother Nature missed the memo! We are supposed to get another batch of snow tonight and it's almost April. This can't be real life. Uggh, and to make matter worse I had a beach themed bridal shower cake yesterday!! Now, all I can think about it is the summer, a nice tan, and being able to run outside without freezing to death. My fingers are crossed that a warm-up will be here sooner than later! 

On to the bridal shower cake! It was a two-tiered, buttercream finish cake. It had turquoise buttercream and I made the "sand" from graham cracker crumbs. A lot of cake designers vary their technique for sand, but I have found graham cracker works the best!

The finished cake! 

This is the sketch I did for the client. We decided to nix the anchor, and I was just too lazy/artistically challenged to draw the adirondack chairs. I'm extremely anal about having everything planned out to the very last detail with my cakes and that's why I almost always do sketches for my clients. It helps me to pinpoint their vision and ensures that they get the exact cake that they had in mind. 

To make the coral, I colored the buttercream with red and orange food coloring and then piped it on to the cake with a #14 star piping tip. The bubbles were made the same way with white buttercream and #9 round tip. 

The initials of the bride and groom-to-be were piped with tan royal icing. 

The seagrass, seashells, and cattails were are made from colored gumpaste. 

I have a candy mold that I used to make the seashells, and once they were dry I added detail with edible petal dust. 

I am really hoping that this cake was a sign that summer is right around the corner... that, or that I need a beach vacation ASAP! Thanks for reading! 

Always, 

Sarah